• Ad Age, Wednesday, January 14, 2009 11 AM

Wendy's is cutting its test of breakfast offerings nearly in half in order to improve the quality of the products and retool in-store displays and marketing, Emily Bryson York reports. The test will now run in about 450 stores in three markets: Kansas City, Phoenix and Pittsburgh. It plans to add to the number of locations by the end of 2009 and hopes for a national launch in 2011.

"Breakfast is a significant opportunity for us," Wendy's CEO Roland Smith said at the Cowen and Co. Consumer Conference. But he admitted the morning items being taken off the table "weren't high quality and didn't meet the consumer's expectations." Wendy's also has had some difficulty making its products stand out from industry-leader McDonald's, Bryson York points out.

Wendy's spokesman Bob Bertini indicates the company also has its eye on the bottom line. "We want to offer better-tasting products with the goal of a higher level of store profitability," he says.

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